With December 7, 1941, as the exception, never in the history of the United States have civilian and military targets been as viciously and brutally attacked on native soil as they were on September 11, 2001. The events of that day and the lives lost are well documented. Stories of triumph and tragedy, heroism and ultimate sacrifice have circulated in the media, clouding our collective consciousness with images of that horrific day.

FDNY - Crisis Counseling: Innovative Responses to 9/11 firefighters, families and communities by Paul Greene, Dianne Kane, Grace Christ, Sallie Lynch and Malachy Corrigan John Wiley & Sons

One of the things people should keep in mind when reading this book is that it focuses solely on the FDNY community, which the authors make very clear from the beginning. It is up to the reader to decide whether the programs developed and utilized will have relevance for their communities and the culture of their community's firefighters. Furthermore, addiction counselors will find very little information, if any, on treating addiction in this population. This is not a "how-to" book, but rather a "what we did" book in the hopes of establishing a foundation for those seeking to create similar programs.

The book's introduction discusses the culture of the FDNY. This is important as all counselors, clinicians, mental health professionals, and addiction counselors should be sensitive to the particular group they are working with. All too often, culture is viewed in terms of "the top layer" - basically, race and ethnicity rather than other "cultural affiliations" that the individual may identify with, such as gender, religion, and in the case of firefighters and other emergency personnel such as police and paramedics, their profession. This book is interesting, especially if the reader has never worked with or known any emergency response workers, and/or has only a rudimentary or media-generated understanding of this culture.

In one of the first chapters of the book, the authors describe the Counseling Service Unit of the FDNY prior to 9/11, and provide suggestions for establishing similar units in other communities. Furthermore, the authors describe post-9/11 expansion, and emphasize to readers the importance of preparedness prior to disaster striking.

The authors go into detail about the culture of the FDNY, providing useful typologies for understanding this close-knit community. They describe the FDNY as a paramilitary organization, an important point to make because both the police and fire fighters are structured on this system - a nuance of the culture that clinicians often have difficulty understanding. That is, in order for a clinician to be successful in intervening he or she must operate within that structure, however critical they may be of such. This structure keeps the clients safe and accommodates for the rules and customs under which they operate.

The book also includes a discussion on how to build partnerships between firefighters and mental health providers. Again, useful "dos and don'ts" are highlighted for the reader. The authors generously share their mistakes in the hopes that others following their model will avoid some of these pitfalls.

Later in the book, the authors give the reader the opportunity to learn about the programmatic interventions, as well as how to modify psychotherapy so that it is "user friendly" for firefighters. This is important because it was realized that based on the lessons learned from 9/11, not all clinicians are suited for providing psychotherapy to first responders. That is not to say that their skills are not sound, but that there is a failure to understand the breadth and depth of what will work within a community that is at best private, and becomes more so in the face of mass casualties.

The book seeks to help mental health professionals to develop services for firefighters that are collaborative in nature, sensitive to the culture of the department, and are in place in case large-scale mental health services are required. The authors readily admit that more research is needed to assess the effectiveness of the interventions provided. Nonetheless, the lessons learned can help providers seeking to develop mental health programs should another terrorist strike occur.

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